Chapter. 14. One Empire, Three Legends (10)
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“Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu… its head. Why are you giving alcohol to someone who is about to go to a game? Hyde, we have great regenerative power, but why can’t we overcome a hangover?”
[Could it be because the body grows and the liver works differently? The method may be wrong. If I drink a lot of alcohol, then pull out the alcohol-intoxicated liver and create a new one, wouldn’t it literally break down the alcohol as actively as if it were new?]
“Oh… That makes sense. “I’ll give it a try.”
The professor rolled up his shirt and looked down at his muscular side, then looked away again. It is not a problem to be selected, but what is the crime of a waitress who comes to clean the room and has to see the raw meat that was just selected?
[That too. Rather than alcohol, wouldn’t the hard liquor that I poured down my throat like I was crazy yesterday be a strong candidate?]
“Strong liquor? “I didn’t drink anything strong yesterday.”
[Not that one. Really poisonous bullet alcohol.]
“Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu…. Ah right. “There was something like that, right?”
As if I was hitting with a hammer, the events of last night came to mind one after another in my dizzy mind.
He triumphantly destroyed the entire arena and won the third preliminary round.
When I came back, Lucilla, who had bought all kinds of gold and silver treasures and the highest quality leather potions, smiled and raised her little finger like a wealthy noblewoman from some cartoon, and announced that she would buy me anything I wanted.
To celebrate passing the preliminaries, we had dinner and a drink, but Borka stopped us, saying the alcohol had a strange smell, and then…
“…Why did I drink that?”
[I noticed that two big guys who smelled like temple incense were drinking in the corner of the first floor, and I did a one-shot saying I was going to fuck those poisoned people with good alcohol.]
“Ah….”
That’s right. Then, half of the customers who were drinking around me started vomiting blood and pretending not to, jumped up and started pouring purification spells at me.
I was sleeping drunk on alcohol and poison, but I felt like I heard something flashing and breaking outside in my sleep.
“Wow… you made it so obvious that you were a temple official, but you still pulled out such a shabby trick. “What is poison? Poison.”
[It wouldn’t have been sloppy, right? This is because our bodies, which are fully adapted to mute infectious agents, have high chemical resistance at the cell level. Seeing as how dizzy I was until morning, it means it wasn’t an ordinary poison.]
“Hmm… that’s good. Those guys who were smart enough to write something like that would have been arrested one after another for attempting to assassinate a saint. Oh my stomach hurts. “I need to go out and eat something.”
When I went down shaking my dizzy head, the rest of the group had gathered in the inn’s restaurant, which had been bustling since the morning.
The first floor of the inn had changed a lot in just one day. It was crowded with people from early in the morning, and the names and affiliations of the eight teams that won the preliminaries were posted on the counter, and people were talking about the game and making small bets.
Among the glances, I saw Notum waving his hand.
“hey. good morning.”
“Gwok. “The professor doesn’t look good.”
“Umm… right. I guess I drank a lot. “You would do such a stupid thing.”
“The professor is smart. I like it so much that I feel like I can take a break from using it sometimes. “Even ogres shouldn’t live like that, seeing as they regularly do stupid things like that.”
“That’s a correct answer to a random question.”
“Geuuu. “Eat.”
As if Notum had just ordered, he tore off a whole warm turkey leg and handed it to him, and the innkeeper’s face turned into tears once again as he watched the professor eat it. When I looked closely, I saw four more identical plates under the turkey bowl.
“Where have all the others gone?”
“I’m in heat…gwuuu. Two red-haired suitor wizards sleep together. The werewolf is out. The elf said he wanted to check something and went out. Notum There is nothing to do here. “It’s kind of sad because it seems useless.”
“Huh…. What are you talking about? Out of all the group, you are the one who has known me the longest. And why is there nothing to do? While eating together with me like this. Do you know how sad it is to eat alone? If you’re alone on an old sofa and absentmindedly chewing something like a calorie bar, you’ll wonder, ‘Am I going to die?’ “I can’t help but think about it.”
“Geuuu. Okay then. “I keep eating.”
After that, I just ate in silence. I was hungry, and the chef’s skills were quite good. Just when the innkeeper’s worries were overpowering his fear of the devouring trolls and scarred giants, a cold wind blew in and Idrasil came in.
“hey. “Where have you been?”
“Because I took the necessary meals. “It seems like everyone hasn’t recovered from the heat from last night, so we came back to enjoy our hobbies for a while.”
“hobby? Oh, you used to make things like bonsai, right? but. Since Haunuman is adjacent to a dry grassland, there may be natural bonsai that are over 10 years old. But it’s winter now? “Is there a house that takes care of something like that?”
When I looked at it, wondering if there was something like a botanical garden in World 3, Idrasil shook his head and pulled up a chair and sat down.
“here. “This is the list of the eight teams that survived the last game, their overall impressions and combat records, etc.”
“….hobby?”
“yes. “It was a fun and rewarding time.”
The professor looked alternately at the elf, who was smiling innocently, and at the paper she held out. At first glance, it is qualitatively different from the rumors floating around the city, and it is high-quality information that may or may not be shown to you if you pay more at a gambling house.
“Well… thank you, but is this… just for fun?”
“yes. It’s a bit difficult to explain, though. After going out into the forest, it became a habit to record and organize things in order to learn and master many things. I ended up recording information that wasn’t necessary. It felt very rewarding to pass on what I had discovered and benefit others. Since I’ve been through so many big things, I felt like a bit of a tense chase was a welcome stimulus. Hehehe.”
“Uh… uh…. I’m sorry Idrasil….”
“Uuu… I can’t find the words to express it….”
Notum and Professor are also branches of the forest and the most peaceful race. I was at a loss for words at the thought of the child being so broken that he felt it was a ‘pleasant stimulus’ for an elf named to spy on the enemy’s information, hide among them, and be chased.
———
– Jokass: That means the job change is over. It’s not a joke, it’s real. If there was a system, something like [My colleague Idrasil changed his job to a ‘corrupted stalking mania elf’!] would have popped up.
– Noru Drug: You ruined the kid so much.
– Speed Wagon: If you look at the characteristics alone, there is a high possibility that he will grow up to be a pretty good colleague… but I heard that Cynthia shows somewhat violent tendencies at school, and I think I understand why.
– Soy Sauce Gay Bar: When you have a child, don’t go near the child until he or she develops correct and good values. Professor Park will move.
———
This time, no matter how good I was at speaking, I couldn’t refute it.
I felt a tenacity bordering on obsession in Idrasil’s scribbled writings, as if they were written in a hurry.
“Idrasil…?”
“yes. professor.”
“Later… Is there someone I know named Senadis? There is a woman in the church who specializes in this kind of work…”
“If this is the case, do you mean my hobby of ‘non-cooperative information acquisition and sharing’?”
“uh. Well… I’ll introduce it to you next time. Something like making it harder for people to get caught or making it easier to reveal intimate details…”
“If you are an expert in such matters, please ask. ” “There are a lot of things I want to talk about.”
When the professor came out of the forest and saw Idrasil with his eyes shining like this for the first time, he turned his head away from that innocent face. What should I do? It already happened like that. There’s no way the elf will listen to me if I try to stop him, so I have no choice but to teach him well so that he doesn’t end up dying somewhere.
****
Shocking is shocking.
In any case, the information that Idrasil brought as a hobby was very useful.
Tusk Claw –
[Benard Fang / Human Professor] Team. All remaining 7 teams were eliminated.
Red Ax –
[Masieta Tagiz / Gundira Tagiz] team.
[Takula Tagiz / Garuda Department] Team.
Like Kun Tagiz’s enemy, he is a powerful orc who mainly uses an axe. In the case of Takula Tagiz’s spouse, ‘Garuda Bu’, he is said to be highly respected as a shaman even though he is an orc brought in from outside.
Marquis of Wildeland – [Gillian Linus / Pure Neisis] The knight who took the place of the 8 tribes. In last year’s game, he showed off a great aura that split sword and shield armor at the same time. It is said that he uses the sword techniques of the Imperial Sword School.
Three Fingers (Goblin) – One team advanced to the finals, but last night was accused of heresy and taken to the church. Tushan Marca team wins bye.
Plains Fang (Orc) –
[Adalcana / Gelmaura] team.
As a tribe famous for throwing a spear over the wall on the other side of the city, a team of two javelin players advanced to the finals. People say their weakness is the number of spears they only carry six, but they have never used more than three spears in the last three games.
Brownbeard (Orc + Wandering Beast Human Tribe) –
[Cenia Sword / Defense Tool] Team.
[Tahidi Burhan / Fade Parka] Team.
As the Brownbeard tribe frequently interacts with various tribes in the grasslands, most of the nomads who came to their new home this year registered as Brownbeard members.
Contrary to expectations, thanks to the selection of only strong players, two teams advanced to the finals.
Open Ribs (Goblin + Arena Slave) –
[Tushan Dalun / Marka Dalun] team.
A wolf-beast brother and sister who are one of the signature gladiators of Haunuman Arena. A traditional strongman who has survived in the arena for years with his unique wild nature and unknown strength.
“Kek.”
As expected from the team that advanced to the finals, there were a few players whose names caught my eye. Not only are the orcs who are enemies of Khun Tagiz, but the Marquis of Vilderland is probably a master-level knight, and there are all kinds of other guys… ———
–
Soy Sauce Gay Bar: Why is that guy? Are you here?
– Jokass: I’ve never heard of the name, but if it’s a sword… that’s it, right?
– takealook: That’s it. Is there any other castle other than that one that is so unique? Argalian Sword. I think she’s his daughter.
– professor: So, why does the daughter of a monster who looks like a combination of Lu Bu and Xiang Yu appear as the representative of the nomadic tribe?
– Roru Drug: I guess the world’s strongest farmed its children in an exciting manner, as expected of the strongest.
———
Argalian Sword. Roderick The world’s greatest swordsman, who is probably warming up on the Western Front right now.
From the beginning, the system said, ‘He is the best with a knife.’ As you have nailed it in the name, the Imperial Sword Saint Du Sesu is a folding ball and the world’s strongest hero unit.
As the strongest man, he is a true man of this era who has children all over the world thanks to his bold ideas and the fact that he never stops women who follow him wherever he goes. He is also famous as the only NPC who gave Cheonryuje.
Seeing that there is a representative warrior of the nomads named Senia Sword, I guess he must have visited the grasslands at some point and worked hard to build a relationship with him. Thanks to this, I was having a bit of a headache.
“Is it the next game?”
“Next game.”
“Hey. “As soon as my luck ended, I got lucky.”
It’s famous that Argalian Sword doesn’t care about his children… but it’s his style to hand them swords himself, even if he doesn’t know their names. Even if he had inherited only half of his genes, he would have grown into a fearsome swordsman.
“Borka guy. “It’s going to be a bit of a struggle.”
“…Gwok? “Isn’t a strong opponent a strong professor?”
“When I go back to Rodrik, I have to stand on the same front line as that guy, right? “What if there is a rumor that I beat my daughter and I get kicked out as soon as I leave?”
“Then… what about the wolf?”
“What is he? I should ask middle-aged fathers to talk to each other. If Borka tells a story that cannot be heard without tears and explains in detail why he had to win, wouldn’t it make him want to live? maybe?”
“Wow. Wow…. Professor. He’s a professor. Boo.”
Ten o’clock in the morning. The professor stood up after seeing that the first match of the finals was in two hours.
Outside the inn, a magnificent chariot sent from the arena was waiting for them.
****
Chaae Aeng!
“Oooooh! That’s right! “It went in correctly!”
“no! A werewolf broke through! “He gave his arm and dug in!”
Crunch!
A short sword, piercing a needle-like gap, stabs through the shower of sword light. The victory or defeat of the game was decided when the shield was caught in the back of the embarrassed opponent.
“Winner… Professor Benard Fang’s team!”
『Waaaaaaaa!!!!』
“Wow, I’m exhausted. “It’s finally over now.”
The professor, who had been watching the large man who had fallen first, stood up when he saw Borka, who had barely achieved victory.
A tall woman whose body was covered in all sorts of witchcraft tattoos and a man with unusually broad shoulders.
The professor, whom I dealt with with a light heart, surprisingly had a hard time.
A man named Tull used two metal shields so large that they looked like walls and the Senia Sword, a thin, slightly curved sword with a slightly curved tip, but the combination was unusual.
[It was a unique spell. Because every time the shield was hit, the nomad in the stands coughed up blood and collapsed.]
‘It seems like the shield and the main body’s magic were connected somehow. I didn’t know that he would personally express like that that he risked the life and death of the entire tribe.’
I was a bit embarrassed. The man’s strength and skill with the shield were not average, so he had to hit him sincerely, as if smashing a mute, to break through the defense. If he hit him that way, the man who was supposed to fall did not fall, and only the tribesmen in the audience collapsed.
I have something to talk about with this team after the game, but there’s no way we can talk about it without making all of our tribe members critically ill, right?
So, I had no choice but to use my body to catch the curved sword that flew silently with Borka and strike down the two men and women with my body.
What’s next? He hugs the approaching man with his shield as if he wants to crush him with the wall and lands a suplex on him, and Borka fights his way to victory.
Since they were a man and a woman whose chemistry was picture-perfect, I couldn’t shake the feeling that they had won through brute force. Technically, he was a far superior opponent than the professor himself.
[Practice your martial arts skills diligently. Like Matrix, the program has inserted the experience directly into the brain, but does it make sense that you can’t use it?]
‘Put your fist in by rotating your wrist, then use the counter-elasticity to turn your waist and extend the opposite hand. It sounds good in writing, but actually moving your body is different, right? ‘The head knows, but the body doesn’t know.’
[Is that your mistake? That would have been the case if I were a regular player. However, you have already learned the skills and have become no different from a villager in the game. This means that martial arts has permeated not only your head but also your body. look! I can do it, right? I can do it, so why can’t you? It’s a matter of mind. Mind! Martial arts that others would have had to practice for decades came to me for free, but I can’t use them! This doesn’t make sense!]
The professor scratched his head as he watched Hyde repeatedly striking the air as fast as a beam of light in the consciousness space. Hyde does not have divine power, but he uses the exact same movements as the skill book [Light Fist] engraved in his memory, smoothly and fluidly. I was definitely starting to feel that the time for dealing with enemies with only the close combat techniques and physical specifications that I had superficially learned during my time in the Special Forces was over. Even when I fought Edeorna, I was far behind in terms of combat skills, and I was even behind the nomad warrior I met in the quarterfinals of the Outskirts Martial Arts Tournament.
[If you don’t know your body, isn’t there only one way? Take some time and switch with me! I’ll engrave it on your body myself!]
‘Hmm… next time. Let’s solve this first now.’
The professor walked towards the opposite direction, not the entrance they came through.
Where the stretchers of the fallen men and women were headed. It’s probably like a funeral home right now, wondering what should we do now.
As I cleared away the goblins who were telling me not to go in now with gentle threats and went in, I saw an old woman stroking the head of an unconscious Senia Sword and people strewn about.
Their eyes were all full of anxiety and wariness. Since they were born and raised in the grassland of the law of the jungle, they knew that it was the winner’s right to insult the loser. Therefore, the moment I faced the face of a fearsome warrior pushing away the noisy goblins and forcibly opening the door, I had made up my mind. They had already lost their place, most of the tribe’s warriors and shamans were helpless, and they had lost most of their assets trying to feed their tribe members. Their situation was that if the scarred warrior, who was said to have a great background, wanted to take out his anger on the arduous battle, he had no choice but to suffer.
A warrior, with a face still covered in blood and sweat, looks around at the tribe members as if he were evaluating them. The moment he exposed his white teeth and stretched out his hand to the woman who blocked Senia, there were people who sensed tragedy and closed their eyes tightly.
Wow!
“Oh my~ Nice to meet you, mother! Your daughter’s knife skills are so good that I was so happy to be hit by a knife. Ah, I am a similar person to your husband, Argalian Sword… uh… a co-worker. Did you know that Argalian holds the title of honorary noble and warrior in most countries? I, too, am a warrior like you. Ha ha ha ha ha. During the warriors’ meeting, I saw you sleeping from afar. Maybe it’s because you take after Argalian, whom you devotedly admired, but your daughter has grown up so well. Hot hot hot hot!”
So, when that fearsome warrior wearing a sturdy helmet with a metal shield the size of a house chattered like a goblin and shook the old woman’s hand, it was almost suspicious that it was a new way of insulting them that they were not aware of.
“Well… um… I am grateful for the kind words… Senia is already engaged to Depis, with whom she has been in close contact for a long time, so I cannot give it to you…” “
Hahahaha” ha ha ha! Your thoughts run as fast as a wild horse, as if you were from the prairie! That’s not true, I happen to know a place inland where there is a lot of unclaimed fertile land. It is said that Argalian’s family members, whom he has a close relationship with, are having trouble because they have nowhere to go. I can’t just pass it by. What is it? Wahahahahahaha!”
From the professor’s mouth, the story about Roderick’s empty land flowed like a clear stream, and hope began to appear in the eyes of the tribe members who were groaning and looking at him with wary eyes.
“How is it? Isn’t this a good opportunity for people in the interior to buy, sell, and grant land? Of course, there is no gift without a price, so you will have to pay with the blood of those who emptied all that land, but heroes from all over, including the Argalian Sword, are flocking there. “It may be difficult, but it is not an ordeal that cannot be overcome.”
“That… is truly an offer I can’t refuse…”
The woman, who had been entranced by the professor’s brilliant speech, gave it a serious look and pondered it before half-nodding her head.
“I will talk to my daughter.” It’s a lifetime ambassador, so you have to make a careful decision, but if land for the entire tribe is the dowry… ummm….”
“Yes? Yeah whatever. Then, I will send the news to Roderick. “I will return to Roderick once I am done with the empire, so I will provide you with any additional help you need to settle down.”
“okay. “Please come back safely.”
“…?”
The professor felt that something was not going well with the conversation, but he did not think much of the fact that he had attracted a wandering tribe from the grasslands. It is said that the wandering tribes are all gathered in the Gray Sole Orc territory, so the rumor about them will spread among them even before the sun sets today. Roderick’s front line will receive a stampede of hungry and determined horsemen.
I felt so good about that fact that I overlooked the middle-aged woman’s meaningful gaze. What would it look like in the eyes of a grassland tribesman when a warrior who fought a bloody battle with an enemy visits his opponent’s mother, praises him, solves the tribe’s problems, and brings a gift that cannot be converted into money?
“Since I know Argalian, I can’t see him as an outsider. He is a warrior strong enough to crush rocks and respected even by the people in the interior… He’s reliable and not bad. “Hmm, great.”
He was a professor who unintentionally robbed someone’s fiancée and was appointed as his son-in-law, but he thought everything was going well and left without even noticing that.
Of course, the people in the chat room were in an uproar when they saw the woman looking at the professor with meaningful eyes, but by the time the professor who had seen the chat too late ran over, all the wandering tribe members had left to get a good seat as soon as possible.
– Speed Wagon: Looks fun.
The sight of the professor trembling in the carriage heading to the next Gyeonggi area only made the fire at the stake burn brightly.
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